Flood Flaps recently completed an editorial revision to evaluation report, ESR-3560, which now includes documented compliance with the 2015 IBC and IRC.

Flood Flaps recently completed an editorial revision to evaluation report, ESR-3560, which now includes documented compliance with the 2015 IBC and IRC. Attached is a copy of the report as published, or it can it can be accessed through the following link: http://www.icc-es.org/Reports/pdf_files/ESR-3560.pdf.

Thank you and please contact Flood Flaps with any questions. Doug Davinroy

Our new Overhead Garage Door Model flood vent, available in White and Gray.

Installed Overhead Garage Door flood vent – White

Flood Flaps® Garage Door Model flood vents can be installed into a standard garage door, providing 220 square feet of flood protection per vent. Available in colors gray or white, each flood vent has a solid aluminum grill to deter air flow and conceal access. The aluminum grill will disengage from water pressure in flood situations to allow flood waters to flow in either direction. In non-flood situations, the grill will remain secure to prevent unwanted pests and rodents from accessing the garage through the flood vent opening.

Our products are designed to provide efficient relief from hydrostatic water pressure resulting from rising flood waters. All of Flood Flaps flood vents cover 220 sq. ft. of enclosed area. Each flood vent is constructed of UV enhanced, durable, engineered ABS plastic that has undergone 2,000 hours of scientific lab testing, ensuring its durability and sustainability, along with a providing a great, clean finished look on the exterior.

Flood Flaps – Multi-Purpose Series Flood Vent – Unmatched Value!

Flood Flaps® Multi-Purpose Series vents are FEMA compliant flood vents certified to provide flood protection and air ventilation. These models are perfectly designed for an enclosure or crawlspace in a flood plain that desires natural air while still providing efficient flood relief when necessary. The patented grill remains closed and secure until forced open by flood waters, allowing water to enter or exit the enclosed area. These automatic foundation flood vents are also FEMA/NFIP compliant.

This series of Flood Flaps® flood vents are perfectly designed for an enclosure or crawlspace in a floodplain that desires natural air while still providing efficient flood relief when necessary. The Flood Flaps® FFNF12TF series of flood vents are perfect for a block wall and brick skirt application.

This series of Flood Flaps® flood vents are perfectly designed for an enclosure or crawlspace in a floodplain that desires natural air while still providing efficient flood relief when necessary. The Flood Flaps® FFNF08TF flood vent is perfect for a block wall and masonary wall application.

This series of Flood Flaps® flood vents are perfectly designed for an enclosure or crawlspace in a floodplain that desires natural air while still providing efficient flood relief when necessary. The Flood Flaps® FFNF05TF flood vent series is perfect for stud wall application.

The extreme flooding in South Carolina led many, including state Gov. Nikki Haley, to invoke the “1,000-year” flood terminology. It’s not political rhetoric or apocalyptic hyperbole. It’s actually the preferred term used by climate scientists to describe the math behind the tragic events that are still unfolding in the Palmetto State.

“It could happen twice in 10 years,” said Michael Mann, a professor of meteorology at Penn State University. “And, then it might not happen for another 10,000 years.”

The reference is to a statistical measure — 1 in 1,000. It means that there is a 1 in 1,000, or 0.1 percent, chance that such a rain event or flood will occur in any given year. There are also 500-year and 100-year rain events, which have probabilities of occurrence of 0.2 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

Based on historical data, it is possible to estimate how much rainfall would be associated with a very rare event in a given area, Mann said, though there is not a thousand years’ worth of rainfall measurements; it’s more like a century or so.

Coming up with data for a 1,000-year event, therefore, requires a mathematical function. It’s the science version of educated guesswork.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty about it,” said Kenneth Kunkel, a professor focusing on climate variability at North Carolina State University.

Getty Images

A man kayaks on Tall Pines Circle in Columbia, South Carolina, on Oct. 4, 2015.

The estimates vary depending on whether or not a region typically sees a lot of rain. A community prone to heavy flooding will have a lower threshold, measured in inches of rainfall, for a 1,000-year event. The threshold for a 1,000-year event in Charleston County, South Carolina over a three-day period is 17.1 inches.

The recent flooding in South Carolina actually surpassed this figure. It is of such a high magnitude, (there’s been more than 20 inches of rainfall in some areas and the total rainfall has been calculated at 4.4 trillion gallons of water), that its probability of occurring was less than a 10th of a percent.

A more common but related term is “100-year flood,” created in the 1960s by the U.S. government as the basis for the National Flood Insurance Program. The United States Geological Service explains on its website that “because the 1 percent AEP flood has a 1-in-100 chance of being equaled or exceeded in any one year, and it has an average recurrence interval of 100 years, it often is referred to as the ‘100-year flood.’ ” It also explains the calculation in terms it hopes the public can understand here.

The end of 1,000-year events?

The rainfall estimates for these events are drawn from historical data that precede what many climate scientists consider a pertinent factor today: climate change.

A NOAA blog post written after this past May and June’s flooding in Texas and Oklahoma by Thomas Di Liberto, a meteorologist who works with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center and Climate.gov blog, noted that El Niño alone cannot account for the record-breaking nature of the rains. There is also natural variability of the atmosphere — or, in other words, “extreme weather sometimes just happens” — as well as climate change, a warmer climate and a wetter atmosphere.

The NOAA blog post stated, “There has not been a shortage of 1-in-25, -50, -100, even -1,000-year events.” It also stated that even though there is only 100 years’ worth of observations, doesn’t mean you can’t do the math on these events. “Remember that just because you don’t have all the letters in a ‘Wheel of Fortune’ puzzle doesn’t mean you can’t figure out the answer.”

The South Carolina flooding is the sixth 1,000-year rain event since 2010, according to data provided to USA Today by reinsurance firm AON Benfield, including the Tennessee floods in May 2010, the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and New England Hurricane Irene flooding in 2011, the Colorado Springs floods in 2013, Baltimore flooding in August 2014, and flooding earlier this year in Nebraska.

Mann said the excessive rainfall in South Carolina can be at least partially attributed to record ocean levels, which added moisture to the air.

That also means while there are more “1,000-year” events likely to come, any increase in frequency would probably put an end to the term now in use to describe them.

“Climate change is actually increasing the likelihood of these events,” Mann said. “They are no longer 1,000-year events.”

Looking for Superior Performance?

Flood Flaps Sealed Series FEMA compliant, Building code compliant, flood vents are perfect for structures located in floodplains that desire conditioned space or an encapsulated crawlspaces. These models use two (2) rubber flaps to keep air from passing through the flood opening in non-flood situations, 365 days a year. In the case of a flood, the rubber flaps will give to the pressure of flood water and allow water to enter or exit the flood opening. Energy efficient flood vents such as Flood Flaps Sealed Series models are even more important as states are adopting and enforcing the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code. Flood Flaps Sealed Series models provide a tight seal (watch a video and see for yourself) to keep enclosures protected from exterior climate air and insects. Superior Performance.

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